


The Sky

by musicture (ronkytonks)



Category: Original Work
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-02
Updated: 2015-02-02
Packaged: 2018-03-10 03:10:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,478
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3274514
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ronkytonks/pseuds/musicture
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A creation myth of how the sky came to be.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Sky

**Author's Note:**

> I had to write a pseudo-Native American creation myth for English III. I hope this isn't inherently racist or something.

In the beginning, all was dark. There was no Sun in the sky to feed the early ancestors with warmth, or stars in the sky to provide the early ones with predictions of the future. There was only cold, black skies lit by a dim Moon. It stayed like this for years and years after the Earth’s creation, until a young woman came across a deathly ill old man. The woman’s name was Espowyes¹ and was from the Alawa tribe. 

The woman had been hunting in the woods, even though back then, food was scarce because there was no light and little warmth. When she came across the old man’s wetu², she became curious and went inside. The old man was lying there, his eyes closed and chest barely stirring. Espowyes quickly became concerned and awoke the old man, to make sure that he was still alive and well. The man coughed and rolled over to face her. His eyes were glazed over and, even in the dark, Espowyes was able to see that his face had scars and wrinkles that covered it. 

“Woman, what brings you here?” the old man rasped. He coughed again, not covering his mouth. Espowyes subtly brought a hand up to her mouth and nose, covering them.

When she talked, however, she lowered her hand a little. “I am Espowyes of the Alawa tribe. I was hunting and found your wetu, then found you. Are you okay, old man? Is there anything I can do to ease your sickness?”

The old man introduced himself as Huyana³, but Espowyes found it odd that he did not introduce his tribe. She assumed that he had none, since he was sick and alone in the middle of the forest with nobody else around. “Woman, I need warmth. You must fetch me something warm.”

Espowyes brought a blanket to Huyana, but the old man refused it. “No, that is not warm enough. You must make something warm enough to cure me.”

“Old man, I do not know how to do that,” she told him. There was nothing warmer than huddling underneath blankets, at least not in those times.

“Woman, you must speak to the spirits. Spare me the fate of death, allow me to hold it off a little longer.” When the old man looked at her, his eyes did not look straight towards her, but rather just slightly off to the side. Espowyes assumed that he was going blind, since he was so old.

The woman agreed to speak to the spirits and told Huyana that she would be back soon, then told him to stay alive at least until she returned with the warmth he was seeking. Espowyes picked up her weapon and left his wetu. She decided not to return to the tribe until her task was over. It was not a long journey to the spirits’ resting place, for the place to speak to them was in the middle of a cluster of three trees. It was not a specific place that the Native Americans were supposed to go to, but rather find. It was said that any cluster of three trees together held the power to summon the ancestral spirits when the Moon was whole and at its brightest.  
Luckily for Espowyes, the moon happened to be whole. She stepped in between the trees, raised her chin, and called for the ancient spirits to descend from Sky Land. Only the dead or the special were to visit Sky Land, for only they were honorable enough to have the almost holiness of the land bestowed upon them. It was a privilege to speak to the spirits, let alone even catch a glimpse of where they resided in their death. It was not long before four spirits descended, none of which Espowyes was familiar with. She showed them respect all the same. 

“Woman, why do you disturb our peace?” one resilient looking spirit asked. The spirits were all various transparent colors that were not available for most humans to see, as the Earth was always dark. Espowyes felt slightly mesmerized by the colors for a few moments before recovering her thoughts.

“I come to assist an old man in cheating death. He seeks something warm enough to cure himself, but neither of us know of anything of that power. He thought that the spirits may be knowledgeable enough to offer guidance,” Espowyes explained. 

The four spirits were silent for a few moments, then took another few moments to talk amongst themselves. Espowyes stood there patiently, her hands clasped behind her back around her weapon. After a small while, the spirits turned back to the woman.

“We will give you guidance, woman,” a different spirit said. This one was sweet looking and his voice was like a soft song. “The Sky Land is also very cold and we would like warmth as well. We want you to create a Sun to give us warmth and give the Earth life. As reward for helping the old man, we shall bring you to the Sky Land.”

Espowyes was most honored, but also a little saddened by the prospect of leaving her place on the Earth after her task. She was also addled at the prospect of creating a Sun, as she did not know what that was. “Spirits, I appreciate your offer for the Sky Land, but I wish to stay amongst my tribe until it is truly my time to leave for Sky Land. I do not know what a Sun is and I do not know how to create such a thing.”

A third spirit spoke to her. The spirit’s color was a see-through green. Her hair was tied back and her eyes were the brightest Espowyes had ever seen. “Woman, your requests to not leave Earth are noble and we shall kindly revoke our offer for you to stay in Sky Land. However, to complete your task, you must collect the flies that make fire and bring them up to the Sky Land. Only after you do this, will the old man live and will we be warm.”

“Yes, spirit, I will do this,” Espowyes said. She thanked the spirits for helping her, then left to begin finding the flies that made fire. She had only seen such a thing before and did not know where or how to find them, or even how to collect so many to create such a thing so warm. Little did she know, the fourth spirit had decided to merge with Espowyes and give her their power, so that she could complete the difficult task ahead of her.

Without thinking, Espowyes ascended up above the land, only realizing what she was doing when she could see all of the Earth. Surely there would be fire-making-flies somewhere amongst the trees, so she chose a spot and uprooted all of the trees from the spot. That is why the southwest region is bare and has almost no trees. Espowyes ascended higher, carrying the weight of all the trees up to Sky Land and allowed them to root themselves in Sky Land. She collected all of the fireflies and morphed them into a bright, hot ball and allowed it to stay in the sky. However, the ball had not been tight enough, so many escaped and scattered across the sky.

Espowyes raised her arm and froze all of the fireflies so that they could not move. The Sun was so bright that it stopped the humans on Earth from seeing the escaped fireflies, but since there had been so many flies that had escaped, the Sun could only show itself for half the day before going dark so that the fireflies would have rest. 

When Espowyes ascended, the spirit was not able to leave her. The fourth spirit kept attempting to go back to Sky Land, but could not without taking Espowyes along. So, finally realizing this, Espowyes hurried to the old man to show him the Sun she had created. Colors were everywhere on the Earth, many colors and many more plants and animals. She had created a more prosperous world where food was plentiful and the Earth was colored. 

But, when Espowyes arrived, the old man was already dead. He would not see the Earth and how beautiful it was, for he was already gone. Regardless, the woman still felt sorrow for the old man. She ascended to Sky Land and wept tears. Clouds gathered above the Earth and Espowyes’s tears fell as rain. She did not see the old man again, for no matter where she searched, he was not in Sky Land. Despite her sadness, all of the Earth would forever hold gratitude for the woman who created the Sun and stars and rain. 

¹Espowyes: "light on the mountain"  
²wetu: Wampanoag term for "house"  
³Huyana: "falling rain"


End file.
